Restoration VS replacement
 

A new boat is very expensive to purchase and insure where as the boat you currently own may suit your needs, but is also expensive out of pocket to restore. As I'm sure some of you have explored this question, would those of you who have share with me why you decided to go with that decision? I.E. financing VS cash investment, style, function,etc.


Thanks, I am a restoration shop and am looking for better ways to market my services.

I most probably would not, could not afford to buy the boats I like new.
Such as Grady White, Boston Whaler, Cobalt etc.
Not to mention the fact that, all boats lose big value as soon as you put them in the water.

I would be willing to pay a reasonable amount to restore a Grady White, as long as it does
not have to be re powered at the same time and would not pay a dime to have a Bayliner or Glastron restored.. Not worth it.

So far, buying an ~10 year old, solid boat with a solid hull, with some minor cosmetic issues have been working great for me.

Agreed- we have a 2001 Wellcraft Excalibur 26 bowrider for the lake and an 88 Tiara 2700 Open for the Ocean. Both are worthy of updating as needed!

If your in the business the best things you can do for yourself are:

- be accurate with your quoting
- be accurate with your timeline

As other have said here the right boat is worth putting more money into. Because the cost of getting something newer or new has gotten astronomical.
I have two boats that are both 20 years old. With what I payed for them (both bought used)..... I would need to be at a point, where repair/restoring them was going to over 15K, in a single shot, before I would consider looking for another used boat..... I know what I have.... I know the issues, I work with them, and hope to feel that every year, I make improvements that keep the boat in good order, rather then spend the money and gain a new monthly payment just to have something that is brand new...

We made this very choice a year ago. We had a 2002 bowrider that we had been very happy with for 19 years. Engine was still rock solid. No problems with hull or structure. But the interior was shot. Vinyl was torn and full of mold spots and the rug had seen better days. So we started looking for a new boat.

After visiting several boat shows and marinas, we realized that we still liked the layout of our current boat and we never saw a new model that fit our use/style better. Certainly not enough to justify the cost. Then we saw a friend's boat that had just been refurbished. It looked like new!

So...a comparable new boat for $70K+, or about one tenth of that cost for a boat we still loved that once again, looks like new. New seats, cushions, rug, and a top-notch detail/fiberglass restoration job. Wasn't much of a decision.

We are thrilled with the result. My advice for marketing your work would be ,ideally, showing the results of a prior restoration you've done, along with the before photos. The finances sell themselves.

Between your thoughts and LI, he should do OK. Solid price, solid schedule and before/ after photos.

We are on both sides of that fence - we purchased a new Whaler last year, it was a brand new 2018 leftover. Got a great deal on the buy price and got back what we paid for our trade-in (Whaler) which owed us nothing. You'd be almost shocked at what the list price was on the 180 Dauntless, our cash out of pocket was reasonable for the new one between the discount and trade-in.

On the other side to replace the big boat new we'd need 125K minimum I'd guess. We've had it since 05 and have kept very good care of it. Over the last year we've put about 5K into it and happy to do so. I figure until it's got too many hours and beaten down we'll keep it going. I have absolutely no interest in any of the new boats I could afford, the one's I do like are simply out of the range that I could feel good about paying.

wood vs Fiberglass?
 

To me, I think moist restoration shops focus on either wood or fiberglass, not both. Again, to me, you restore wooden boats and rehab fiberglass boats that have been neglected; new canvas, upholstery, detailing, etc. Not the same as replacing planks. You can restore a wooden hull. When a fiberglass hull fails, it is very rare that anyone would restore it.
If the owner loves the boat and it is no longer in production, rehab/restore. Boating magazines are full of ads that say something like "1959 CC Capri, recent $50K restoration. Show winner. Asking $28,000."
For marketing restoration services, I think doing some collaboration with owners to campaign their boats on the appropriate show circuit would build your reputation.

Restoration vs Replacement
 

What make,model, length, engine is the boat you are talking about? Makes all the diff in advise to be suggested. Thank you.

OP is in the business. Looking for marketing suggestions to build the business. Not just one boat, but maybe your boat?

Thank you to all for the good data. Lighthouse Marine
 

So it does sound as if there is a population of folks who would entertain restoring their boat, bike, or wagon if they had access to a shop that they had faith and trust in. I suppose that come through "word of mouth". I do have a young man working on my website and he will include a photo album, just not done yet.

As with any service/repairs of older equipment there are always "surprises" lurking behind what was not yet removed. We try hard to plan for every eventuality, but this is easier said than done. So I have learned over the years to estimate high. I can always come in for less and everybody loves that.....

Thank you to all for your good input. Lighthouse Marine.

We restore what ever our customers want restored, bikes, boats, can openers, doesn't matter to us as we have been restoring various machines for many years. We do restoration work on wood boats, however there is never any "return" as the restoration costs typically run at 3 times what Haggerty will insure them for.

Best of luck to you.
You may somehow want to distinguish yourself from this place (in NY)
http://www.lighthousemarineservices.com/

Reviews for the place in NY are not that good.

Not sure how I might pull that off, but thank you for the heads up. For the record we are located in Tuftonboro, NH. In the old "Techni-Coil" building.

Web site presence
 

Your webmaster may have some ideas. If I didn't know your "Lighthouse" name, I would Google something like "boat restorations NH". See who comes up, (Unique in Moulton borough) and think about how you can rise to the top of the list. Reserving several related domain names may help. If you want to do cars or things other than boats, you may want to repeat the process so your name comes up if you Google "old cars NH".
I like to do business locally, so I find it irritating when web designers think they are part of the international internet and don't need to publicize location. I want to see a location and phone number right up front. I also want to see an email address, not a fill in the blanks email contact. If I send an email, I have a record. If I fill in the blanks, no record, no way to know when or if the msg was received.
Enhancing your internet presence is cheap and you don't have to change your business registration with the state, etc.

I like to buy new whenever I can. I find it's hard for me to feel good about fixing things when I don't know the history of them. They also don't seem to become "old friends" unless I've had them since new.

That being said, I think there's a distinction between fiberglass/wood boats and pontoon/tritoon boats. I don't see m(any) pontoon boats becoming "classics" that owners would want to invest in refurbishing.

I'm confident that in about six years, I'll trade my '16 Harris in for a new one rather than put money other than just repairs into it.

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